Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems for monitoring intravenous (IV) fluids in IV bags and more particularly, to a system for real-time monitoring of IV fluid in an IV bag.
Description of the Related Art
Typically, IV therapy includes administration of IV fluids directly into the bloodstream of a patient. The examples of the IV fluids include medicines, glucose, saline, blood, blood plasma, and the like. The most common and economical way of implementing the IV therapy is using gravity-fed IV infusion systems that include an IV bag, an IV flow line, and, a needle inserted into a vein of the patient. The IV bag, which is suspended from a stand at a height greater than the height at which the patient is resting, stores the IV fluid. The IV fluid flows into the IV flow line and into the needle due to gravitational force and is administered into the patient's vein. A nurse or a health care professional monitors a level of the IV fluid in the IV bag. The nurse identifies a threshold level of the IV fluid in the IV bag such that a decrease in the level of the IV fluid below the threshold level impedes the administration of the IV fluid into the patient's vein. When the level of the IV fluid in the IV bag reaches the threshold level, the nurse replaces the IV bag with a new IV bag before the IV fluid completely drains out from the IV bag. The replacement of the IV bag based on the determination of the threshold level ensures that the IV fluid is administered without any interruption in the continuous administration of the IV fluid to the patient. Due to factors such as negligence, lack of skill in identifying the threshold level, catering to responsibilities other than monitoring the IV fluid, and the like, the nurse may fail to replace the IV bag in time. The failure to replace the IV bag in time results in an interruption in the continuous administration of the IV fluid to the patient, which is detrimental to the health of the patient.
A known technique to prevent the aforementioned problem is to use an IV fluid monitoring system that includes a level sensor to generate a sensor signal, which is indicative of the level of the IV fluid in the IV bag. The IV fluid monitoring system further includes a processor that is configured to compare the sensor signal with the threshold level corresponding to the IV fluid in the IV bag. When the level of the IV fluid reaches the threshold level, the processor generates a notification signal in form of an alarm or a message, which is wirelessly transmitted to a hand-held device carried by the nurse. The nurse replaces the IV bag in response to the notification signal. However, disturbances in the surroundings, such as an accidental push to the stand, incorrect placement of the IV bag on the stand, and the like will change the position of the IV bag, which in turn results in aberrations in the level of the IV fluid in the IV bag that is being sensed by the level sensor. Consequently, the sensor signal indicates an incorrect measure of the level of the IV fluid remaining in the IV bag. Thus, the processor generates the notification signal in response to the incorrect measure of the level of the IV fluid in the IV bag. The incorrect notification signal results in an interruption in the administration of the IV fluid.
A known technique to prevent the aforementioned problem is to include a weight sensor, instead of the level sensor, in the IV fluid monitoring system to generate the sensor signal, which is indicative of weight of the IV fluid in the IV bag. The processor is configured to compare the sensor signal with threshold weight corresponding to the IV fluid in the IV bag. The threshold weight of the IV fluid in the IV bag is defined such that decrease in the weight of the IV fluid below the threshold weight impedes the administration of the IV fluid. When the weight sensor detects the threshold weight of the IV fluid in the IV bag, the processor generates the notification signal. The IV fluid monitoring system with the weight sensor accurately generates the notification signal irrespective of the position of the IV bag, in contrast to the IV fluid monitoring system with the level sensor. However, for the IV fluid monitoring system with either the level or the weight sensor, modification in size and material of the IV bag requires modification in the threshold level or the threshold weight for the corresponding IV bag. The nurse has to reconfigure the corresponding processor to compare the sensor signal with the modified threshold level or the modified threshold weight of the IV fluid. The nurse may fail to reconfigure the processor due to reasons such as emergency attention required by critically ill patients leading to negligence, monitoring multiple patients, lack of know-how corresponding to process of reconfiguration of the processor, and the like. Hence, the processor generates the notification signal in response to an incorrect threshold level or an incorrect threshold weight of the IV fluid in the IV bag, which is undesirable.
After the IV fluid monitoring system generates the notification signal and raises the alarm, the nurse reaches the patient and replaces the IV bag with a new IV bag. The time required for the nurse to reach and change the IV bag depends on the location of the nurse with respect to the IV bag. If the nurse is located far away and hence, reaches the patient after the IV bag becomes empty, the administration of the IV fluid to the patient is interrupted.